Fight breaks out at 49ers practice; Jenkins has bounce back day

There was a rare fight during Tuesday’s practice and it involved two players at the same position. Safeties C.J. Spillman and Michael Thomas got into it briefly, with coach Jim Harbaugh among those in the middle of breaking it up.

Harbaugh ended up on the ground while in the midst of helping diffuse tempers. Thomas was pulled out of the scrum and Spillman, whose sweatpants were ripped during the fracas, was ordered off the practice field. He did not return to practice.

It was unclear was initiated the fight. It was a non-contact practice in which the players were wearing only helmets.

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– Wide receiver A.J. Jenkins had a solid day of practice with three catches, two of pretty high difficulty. That came after recording just one catch during team drills over the previous two days.

During two-minute drill work, he hauled in a deep sideline pass from Kaepernick, although it was borderline whether or not he was in bounds. He also made a nice catch over the middle on a Kaepernick pass in which he fought off tight coverage from rookie cornerback Darryl Morris. He earlier caught another sideline pass, also from Kaepernick.

Jenkins didn’t receive a lot of work early in practice and at one point tight end Vernon Davis shouted some words of encouragement his way, yelling “Come on A.J.” to the second-year receiver.

Shortly after, he made the nice sideline grab during the two-minute work, although linebacker NaVorra Bowman protested that he was out of bounds.

– Kyle Williams also had a nice day. He caught four passes, including a 40-plus yard completion from B.J. Daniels during scout team offense work. Austin Collie also caught four passes.

– Chad Hall showed off some defensive skills when the wide receiver broke up an errant pass that Carlos Rogers was in line to intercept. Hall reached in over Rogers’ right shoulder to bat the pass away.

– Lavelle Hawkins had a terrific catch along the sidelines in which Morris was all over him but he found a way to haul it in. MarQueis Gray also had a highlight play when he grabbed a deep pass from Colt McCoy.

– Wednesday is the last practice of training camp that is open to the media.

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It’s interesting that Micheal Thomas was mixing it up in practice with Spillman because I just re-watched the 49ers / Broncos game I think Micheal Thomas is a player. I think he’s better than Trenton Robinson who I don’t think will ever become a starter in the NFL. I’d like to see Harbaugh cut Robinson in favor of Micheal Thomas. The kid can play.

Regarding the rest of the game, I think the 49ers should completely part ways with a few players: Cam Johnson, Trenton Robinson and Hawkens. These guys simply aren’t players. They lack the size and game.

On a more positive note, it’s obvious why the 49ers didn’t re-sign Larry Grant after his suspension. Nick Moody and Micheal Wilhoite are legit, and I’m not worried about it if Bowman or Willis go down. Do I want Moody or Wilhoite starting in the Super Bowl? No. But they could fill in well for a two or even three game stretch – especially Moody, once he gets our defensive system down.

McCoy and Tolzien played well, I thought. Colt got hurt and Tolzien was running for his life behind third string O linemen, but they both looked good – especially throwing to TE Vance McDonald who’s going to be a beast in this league for many years to come. People are making too much of his drops already. Jerry Rice had the rookie drops as well. I’m confident Vance will start catching everything in sight over the next several years.

In my opinion, AJ Jenkins is a bust, but I appreciate Vernon Davis supporting AJ. Someone once said, “I don’t know what ‘it’ is, but I know ‘it’ when I see ‘it.'” AJ doesn’t have “it.” He doesn’t have a burst or explosion when trying to get open, and he doesn’t run with any urgency. I like what Matt Miaocco said over on CSN Bay Area when Matt said, “AJ is at risk of not making the team.” If there’s any hope that AJ can turn it around, it’s with pressure from the media and support from his teammates like Vernon. But time is running out. Chad Hall, Austin Collie and even Osgood looked a lot better. That says something about Jenkins.

Losing Soap and RJF hurts, and I’ve been skeptical of all the hype from guys like Willis and Tim McDonald talking in the media about how good Ian Williams and Glenn Dorsey are. But both look to be serviceable, and Dobbs could be a guy who flies under the radar because of last season’s injury. I know Dobbs isn’t a 3/4 NT, which we need, but Dobbs could be one of those “didn’t get drafted,” players that really makes a contribution this year at DE.

All in all, good first game for the 49ers.

Dominic

Spitblood, you have no idea what you’re talking about Lol.

JJ

Great reporting as usual cam ! I was wandering how garret celek is doing ! everyone seems to be talking about Vance and others. Does celek still hold a lead I’ve the other (rookie) TE because of his time in the offensive system? Or is he simply being outperformed so far ? I was wandering because I always liked his style of play and thought he was pretty good .

9er faithful !!!

Old Captain Salt

If catching three passes (one out of bounds) is considered a bounce-back day, we should just bounce Jenkins off the team. Why waste any more time. If we cut him it hurts the salary cap, but if we keep him it costs us more money and we have to cut a better receiver. Sayonara.